Improvement in shanks for boots and shoes



No; 118,851.. f Patented sep. 12,1871.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIOEc GEORGE GOODYEAR, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN SHANKS FOR BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 118,851, dated September 12, 1871; antedated August 25, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE GOODYEAR, of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a new Improvement in Shanks for Boots an d Shoes; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawing constitutes a part of this specification, and represents, in-

Figure l, an edge view 5 Fig. 2, an under-side view, looking up; Fig. 3, a longitudinal central section; and in Fig. 4, a transverse section on line x x.

This invention relates to an improvement in springs or llings for the shanks of boots and shoes 5 the object being the production of a cheap elastic filling to serve as a spring for the support of the shoe, and at the same time to give to the shank the desired form without the con sumption of the large amount of leather usually necessary to accomplish this last result. The in vention consists in forming a shank-piece from wood or similar material in a single piece, the piece split longitudinally from one end toward the other, but not separating the parts, for the purpose of making the shank of two lifts or thicknesses through a portion of its length to give a greater elasticity.

From wood or other suitable material, preferring hickory, I out the blank to the outline required, say as seen in Fig. 2. Then, by means of a saw or similar device, I slit this piece transversely, as at a, Fig. l, through a portion of the length of the piece, preferring it from the front to lthe rear, so as to leave the heel portion solid, the upper surface being usually flat and the under surface rounded, or shaped to give the required form to the boot or shoe.

This slit gives to the shank-piece the eifect of different lifts or leavesthat is to say, a greater or better elasticity than if a solid piece; and leaving the two parts solidly joined together, as by this construction I am enabled to do, possesses an advantage over riveting or uniting the two parts together, in that rivets weaken and often split the wood, destroying the eect of the shanlrpiece; this construction bein g considerably cheaper than any means for securing the two parts together.

It will be understood that the shape or form of the shank-piece is to be adapted to the shoe to which it is to be applied.

While two lifts are, as a general thing, all that is desirable, in shank-pieces of sufficient thick ness two or more slits may be cut, giving a corresponding number Of lifts or leaves.

I claim as my invention- As an article of manufacture, the herein-described shank-piece, consisting of two or more leaves from one single solid piece of wood or siniilar material, substantially as set forth.

GEO. GOODYEAR.

Witnesses:

OHAs. T. DE FOREST,

SHERMAN P. COLT. 

